this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2024
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Nonsense
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funny, silly, whatevs.
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School as we know it was designed to produce workers, and cursive was a part of that. They taught us cursive because they thought we would need it for work.
cursive != calligraphy
And here i was thinking it was a way to write quickly and neatly
I was born in the 90s and we didnt have computers in school for us to use til I was around 12 or 13? And that was dedicated computer science class, and I went to a school known for math and science.
You needed to write your notes. By thr time I hit 14/15 we had to type our assignments but we were still using notebooks in class.
It was only by the time I hit college that people were using laptops in class.
So up until then, most people were still writing. I still write letters to people I care about - my girlfriend, friends who live far away, etc.
Also consider the vast amount of studies that show that handwriting helps people memorize or learn at a far higher rate than typing does.
Funny enough my younger brother is a good amount younger than me. He grew up with typing, his school gave him a Chromebook to start, laptops in every class, etc. It's just a difference in what you were taught and why, based on when you grew up. I don't think anyone expected us to go from n64 to ps4 in less than 20 years. The boom of technology has killed handwriting. But considering that for the longest time tech didn't advance at the rate that it has been doing since like 2008 or so, it makes sense that people were taught to write. Writing has been around for thousands of years. It's probably still a skill you want to be able to do, and do legibly
I write by hand so rarely that I just use sans serif.
If it's for class notes, then the extra time helps me memorize it better.
If it's for someone else, then it will be actually legible.
Cursive users tend to overestimate how legible their handwriting is to others.
sounds american. in normal countries it's a way to learn several things, including how to write and read a form of writing, improving fine motor skills, and hopefully being able to write quickly. just because you or anyone else hated it and didn't bother to get better at it doesn't mean it was for no reason.
even if so, this has no bearing on my comment which was about people's complaints about learning things that are not practical. there are people who complain that they had to learn 8 (maybe 9 if they're old enough) planets in order. oh the horror of knowing which of any two planets is further! multiplication table, probably the single most helpful part of math that helps with quick calculations without assistance? oh no! what about capitals? I can't put capitals in my excel sheet and earn a bonus!
then people will complain having got to where we are. this is why. because apparently learning anything that you can't implement in everyday life is a burden.
The problem with memorizing 50 capitals (or anything else useless) is opportunity cost. They could be learning useful things instead.
I think we agree that learning things just for capitalism is bad, but possibly disagree about whether schools are currently doing that by teaching cursive. Anecdotally, I was told that I would need it for work.
what's useful knowledge to specifically replace 50 capitals?
List of specifics: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-one-thing-that-should-be-taught-in-school-that-isnt-already/answer/Harri-K-Hiltunen
none of these are specifics, they're topics. but I didn't ask for that anyway. i said what's supposed to specifically replace the 50 capitals. none of these qualify. also "I wish this was taught" isn't really an argument for something else not to be taught. why not replace something else? what is going to determine the cut?
most of this list is about how things should be taught, by the way. I agree that learning problem solving skills, curiosity and thirst for knowledge and know-how to obtain knowledge is better than learning facts. this doesn't explain the disdain for basic knowledge about your country, the solar system or the fucking multiplication table.
Any information that's useful whatsoever? Maybe I'm not understanding your question.
I'd love it if everyone could label a supply and demand diagram, and that's about as hard as memorizing 50 capitals.
what I'm asking is how you determine what's useful and what isn't. unsurprisingly seems to come back to getting a good capitalist boy again.
I think capitalism persists because most people can't label a supply and demand diagram.
how? it's the most basic thing about economy. maybe it's because we don't have 50 states over here but we learned it. still capitalism.
Because an economy will still exist after capitalism, and understanding economic theory (like surplus value) is helpful in overthrowing capitalism.
I disagree. that's like saying the average serf needs to understand lordship to overthrow the king. no they just need to be fed up. the understanding of the intricacies of the new government is the job of scholars, not the serfs.